Ind. home explosion now homicide investigation

Authorities launched a homicide investigation Monday into the house explosion that killed a young couple and left numerous homes uninhabitable in an Indianapolis neighborhood.

WCPO

Please courtesy Matt Kryger/The Indianapolis Star. Indianapolis Fire Department and Greenwood fire department work to control the fires from the the multiple home explosion at 8338 Fairfield Way.

Copyright 2012 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- Authorities launched a homicide investigation Monday into the house explosion that killed two people and left numerous homes uninhabitable in an Indianapolis neighborhood.

Indianapolis Homeland Security Director Gary Coons made the announcement after meeting with residents affected by the Nov. 10 blast and just hours after a funeral for the husband and wife who were killed. The couple lived next door to the house where investigators believe the explosion occurred.

"We are turning this into a criminal homicide investigation," Coons said, marking the first time investigators have acknowledged a possible criminal element to the case.

Search warrants have been executed and officials are now looking for a white van that was seen in the subdivision the day of the blast, Marion County Prosecutor Terry Curry said. Federal authorities are offering a $10,000 reward for information in the case.

Curry said the investigation is aimed at "determining if there are individuals who may be responsible for this explosion and fire," but neither he nor Coons took questions or indicated if investigators had any suspects.

Officials have said they believe natural gas was involved in the explosion, which destroyed five homes and left dozens damaged, some heavily. Investigators have been focusing on appliances as they search for a cause of the explosion, which caused an estimated $4.4 million in damage.

"We thought something like this was not just an accident," said Doug Aldridge, who heads the neighborhood Crime Watch.

Aldridge said he and other residents frequently saw a white van parked outside the home, though he didn't know who owned it. He said residents were angry and upset, but he expects most of them to stay in the neighborhood.

"It's surprising that it finally came to that. Everyone had their suspicions," Chris Sutton, who lives a street away from the blast site, said after learning about the homicide investigation.

"It's kind of scary that someone might set off a gas explosion," he added. "It's really scary."

Hundreds of people attended the funerals earlier Monday for the couple killed in the explosion, 34-year-old John Dion Longworth and 36-year-old Jennifer Longworth.

She was a teacher remembered for knitting gifts for her students, while her husband, an electronics expert, was known as a gardener and nature lover.

Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard, who spoke at the news conference, said he went to the Longworths' funeral and had a hard time coming to peace with what had happened.

"There is a search for truth and there is a search for justice," Ballard said.

The couple lived next door to the house where investigators are focusing. The co-owner of that house, John Shirley, told The Associated Press he had recently received a text message from his daughter saying the furnace in the home, which she shares with her mother and her mother's boyfriend, had gone out.

Shirley's ex-wife, Monserrate Shirley, said her boyfriend, Mark Leonard, had replaced the thermostat recently and the furnace had resumed working.

She and her boyfriend were away at a casino at the time of the blast. The daughter was staying with a friend, and the family's cat was being boarded.

We are here this evening to provide an update regarding the explosion which occurred in a residence on Fieldfare Way on Saturday evening, November 10th. As you are all aware, Jennifer and John Longworth died as a result of that explosion and their funeral was today. Our thoughts and prayers are with their family, those injured in the explosion, and the families who lost homes and property as a result of the explosion.

While the fire investigation has been progressing, there has been a parallel investigation, not solely focusing on the cause of the explosion but focusing on individuals who may have been responsible once accidental causes were eliminated. That investigation has consisted of numerous interviews with various individuals as well as execution of a number of search warrants and is being conducted jointly by the IMPD and the MCPO.

Based upon those interviews and results of those search warrants, that investigation is now considered an active criminal homicide investigation.

We have been advised that Crime Stoppers is offering a $1000 reward for information leading to an arrest in this case. Special Agent in Charge Robin Shoemaker of ATF has authorized a reward of up to $10,000 for information leading to an arrest and conviction.

While details of the homicide investigation cannot be released at this time we are asking that anyone with information about the explosion contact Crime Stoppers.

Lastly, if anyone has information about a white van seen in the Richmond Hills subdivision the afternoon of November 10 and information about the occupants of that van, we ask that such information be communicated to Crime Stoppers as well.